U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday he will skip next week's Saudi investment summit, dealing another blow to Riyadh following the suspected murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Three European government ministers on Thursday joined an array of corporate chiefs in pulling out of an upcoming investment conference in Saudi Arabia, following the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has postponed a planned trip to the Middle East with a stop in Saudi Arabia for an investment conference, after a prominent journalist's disappearance.

Asian markets were mostly higher on Tuesday, though Chinese benchmarks fell after the government reported inflation rose for the fourth straight month.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.3 percent to 22,317.06. The Kospi in South Korea recovered 0.1 percent to 2,145.71. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, which has fallen 22 percent since early January, slipped another 0.2 percent to 25,396.19. The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.2 percent to 2,564.24. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4 percent to 5,859.20. Shares rose in Taiwan, and Indonesia but fell in Singapore and Thailand.

Saudi stocks made a partial comeback Monday after days of heavy losses in economic fallout linked to political tensions over the disappearance of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

China's central bank governor Sunday sought to cool the temperature on a brewing trade-and-currency war with the United States, calling for "constructive solutions" as the spat threatens to knock the world economy.

Saudi stocks dived 5.6 percent just an hour after trading opened on Sunday as the oil-rich kingdom comes under increasing international pressure over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The World Bank on Sunday announced funding of up to $1 billion for Indonesia after it was rocked by a string of recent disasters, including a deadly earthquake-tsunami that killed thousands.

The window of opportunity to keep global growth on track is "narrowing" amid trade disputes and emerging markets crises, the IMF said Saturday, and cautioned against currency wars as a US-China spat threatens to boil over.

The warning from the International Monetary Fund came at its annual meeting with the World Bank in Bali, after it cut its outlook for global GDP growth this week by 0.2 percentage points to 3.7 percent for 2018 and 2019.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pushed back Saturday against warnings that the Washington's trade fight with China imperils the world economy, saying that pushing Beijing to open up will be good for all.